MEDIA REACTION: ISRAELI DUPLICITY AND AMERICAN DEMAND

UNCLAS MUSCAT 000690 SIPDIS DEPT FOR NEA/ARPI, NEA/PPD, NEA/P, INR/R/MR LONDON FOR GOLDRICH PARIS FOR ZEYA USCENTCOM FOR PLUSH FOREIGN PRESS CENTER/ASILAS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KPAO KMDR OIIP MU SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: ISRAELI DUPLICITY AND AMERICAN DEMAND FOR CHANGE IN THE REGION -------------- No To Settlements -------------- ¶1. On April 21, the government-owned Arabic daily "Oman" carried an editorial entitled, "A Strange Position": "The duplicity of the American position toward Israel hurts the prospects of peace in the region. While it is true that America has called for Israel to stop building new settlements, it still supports indirectly the merger of large settlements. The proposed mergers are completely unacceptable to the Palestinian Authority. Its leadership has made clear that the American administration has no right to grant Palestinian land to Israel for settlements or any other purpose." -------------- Putting the Ball into Play -------------- ¶2. On April 21, the privately-owned Arabic daily "al-Watan" carried an editorial entitled, "The Ball is in Israel's Court": "The Palestinian president has fulfilled his promise to halt Palestinian violence. Israel should now fulfill its commitments. That is, Israel should end its policy of targeted assassinations, stop building the separation fence, and give up plans to build new settlements. The ball is clearly in Israel's court. It must decide how it will put the ball into play." -------------- Hungry for Change -------------- ¶3. The privately-owned Arabic newspaper "al-Watan" published an editorial on April 23 entitled, "Rice's Storm": "America is hungry to change the whole world and no one can stand up to it. After Iraq, the U.S. has turned its attention to Lebanon and Syria.... The eye of Secretary Rice's storm of change is also hovering over Russia and China. Nowadays, the U.S. announces its demands in the media, so diplomatic calls for change are things of the past. If a country does not do as America wishes, it will face U.S. might or it will have to contend with U.S. efforts to destabilize it by provoking tension between ethnic and religious groups. This is what is happening in Iraq now." BALTIMORE